Plant Protein!!

I'm always on the look out for good products that have low carbs, no sugar and lots of nutrients! This one fits the bill!

I received an email last week from The Green Smoothie Girl and she's promoting the kick off of her new Plant-Based Protein powder!! and for the next week she has a sale, BUY 2 Get 1 FREE!! i decided to give it a a try, because i was planning on getting more Atkins shakes last week anyway. The nice think about this plant based protein mix is that it doesn't have ANY sugar in it (and the Atkins one does.) Also, it has a total of 2 Net Carbs!  (score!) It's slightly sweetened by Stevia which doesn't effect your blood sugar!

The powder come in Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate. I've tried all and they are not the most tasty shakes I've ever had, but i really feel satisfied and I have lots of energy. My favorite is the Strawberry! you can mix it with water but i use 8 oz of Unsweetened Almond Milk!

if you'd like to check it out click HERE .

Side note: With the buy 2 get 1 sale each serving comes out to be $0.79! can't beat that!

Taco Shells

This is by far the coolest trick I learned through Pinterest. Lay a slice of Provolone cheese on a piece of parchment and place on a microwave safe dish. Microwave for 1 minute or until the cheese is golden brown, but not burnt. (On my microwave it took about 1 min 18 sec.) Take it out of the microwave and using the parchment paper for help hang the cheese over a butter knife for 30 seconds to create the shape of your taco shell. Then peel off the parchment paper. Viola! Taco Shell! The above photo is a picture of Kevin's second serving of tacos. He thought dinner was so cool he had to try it out for himself.

Almond Mill Crackers

The thing I miss most now that I am eating a keto friendly diet is the crunch! Sometimes I just want to eat something crunchy like a potato chip or cracker. This recipe completely satisfies that need.

3 oz almond flour, 3/4 cup
2 tsp splenda
1 egg white
3/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder

Mix all the ingredients well in a small bowl. Place dough on a parchment covered 15x18 cookie sheet. Spread out the mixture with your hands a bit then cover with wax paper or another parchment paper. Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick. It will be about a 9x9 in square. Remove the top paper and with a pizza cutter cut into small squares. Makes about 48 crackers.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 325 degrees or until golden brown. Break them apart on the score line and let cool. They will keep for weeks in an air tight container in your pantry.

Serving 8 crackers: 3 carbs

note: I used the whole egg so my crackers were a little harder to roll out and much thinner than they should be. They still had a super awesome crunch and tasted great. Also, I was kind of lazy with my dough cutting so I have all different sizes of crackers. Opps!

Chocolate Fudge Balls

I found this recipe originally through Pinterest.

6 oz Cream Cheese
4 packets Stevia
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Optional toppings:
chopped nuts or unsweetened coconut
(I used about 1/4 cup of coconut.)

Soften cream cheese slightly; add stevia and cocoa powder. Mix ingredients well. Place back into the fridge for about an hour then using a small cookie scoop drop one leveled scoop into coconut and completely cover with the coconut. This makes 8-9 balls. Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

note: I didn't put my mixture in the fridge before making into balls and it still worked.

2 carbs per ball

Strawberry Ice Cream

I found this recipe in my Vitamix cook book (page 224). I modified it to make it Keto Friendly.

1 cup Heavy Cream
1 lb frozen strawberries
1/4 cup splenda
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Place all ingredients into the vitamix in the order listed and secure the lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Use tamper to press ingredients into the blades.
5. In about 30-60 seconds, the sound of the motor will change and four mounds should form.
6. Stop machine. Do not over mix or melting will occur. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Strawberry flavor: 6 carbs

Feta Chicken Patties

My super awesome friend Angie sent me this recipe. I can't wait to try it.

1 lb Ground Chicken
2 T Golden Ground Flax
1 Egg
2 oz Feta Cheese
1/4-1/2 Green Pepper, diced and precooked
1 tsp Dry Ranch Seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Here is what she said about it.
"Mix all ingredients. (with hands) Pile into whoopie pie pan. I made 8. Cook at 350 for 35-40 minutes until chicken reaches 170 degrees with meat thermometer. That was it. I only used the green pepper because I had it left over and I didn't want to waste it. I think this would be yummy if you added mushrooms and any type of cheese. These are super easy to make and they are the perfect size for a flax bun."

Stats:
Calories 104
Carbs 1
Protein 13

Crunchy Ranch Chicken and Alfredo

This meal is one of my favorites! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it really is. No joke.

For the Chicken:
6 Chicken Breasts
Ground flax seeds (1- 1 1/2 cups. I never really measure.)
1 Ranch Dressing Seasoning Packet

Mix ingredients together and dip your raw chicken in the mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Yes! It's seriously that easy!

Tip: I like to cut my chicken breasts in half then dip them in the mixture. It's easier for portion control and my chicken bakes even.

Alfredo:
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Heavy Cream
Parsley

Cook slowly on medium until all the cheese is melted and mixture has thickened a little bit. Stir often so you don't burn it. Serve over your favorite low carb veggies. My favorites are zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower.

Tip: In the photo I didn't have enough Parmesan so I used 1 cup of each of the ingredients so it's a bit thinner than I prefer. Good news it was still super awesome, plus lowered the carbs.

Makes about 6 servings: 511 calories, Carbs 2.2g!